See Yourself Through Stranger Eyes
by Synnerxx
Summary: Seth leaves Dean. Dean self-destructs a little. Roman tries to pick up the pieces.


**pairing: **past seth rollins/dean ambrose

**content notes: **implied self-harm, implied alcoholism, implied self-destruction, post-breakup

**notes: **i want a full on break up between seth and dean and one day, i will write that. this is not that fic. this is me getting a feel for post-break up!dean and how he's going to cope. (or not, as it were.) sort of inspired by motorcitydreams, but this isn't quite the fic for her yet. but she is awesome. so there.

written for the "five random words" challenge at writerverse. my words were: scene, sweltering, chin, encourage, scarecrow.

* * *

The summer heat creeps into his apartment, sweltering and thick and suffocating. The air conditioner is turned up to full blast, but it's fighting a losing battle against the weather. Dean's in the bedroom, sitting on the floor in front of the bed. There are broken beer bottles on the floor around him and he looks like he's been sitting there for days. This is how Roman finds him.

"Dean?" Roman stops in the doorway, trying not to startle the other man.

Dean tips his head back to look up at Roman. His eyes are bloodshot and there's a decent amount of scruff on his jaw. He blinks slowly up at Roman.

"How long have you been sitting here?" Roman asks, stepping into the room carefully.

Dean swallows thickly, clearing his throat. "Since he left."

Roman winces. "Dean, come on. Let's get you in the shower and then I'll clean this up."

Dean makes no move to get up, so Roman sighs and reaches down, hauling Dean to his feet, helping him maneuver around the broken glass with his bare feet. He pushes Dean in the direction of the bathroom, trusting him to at least get that going by himself.

"I'll bring you some clothes in a minute." Roman calls after him, not really expecting a response and not getting one.

Roman walks into the kitchen to get the broom and dustpan and quickly cleans up the broken glass in Dean's bedroom; thankful he has wooden floors instead of carpet. He dumps the glass out into the trashcan. He wets a dish towel and wipes up the spilled beer and any tiny glass shards that are left. He allows himself a small smile when he hears the shower start up.

He thinks about calling Seth and describing the scene he walked in on in excruciating detail, but he's not that cruel. Not even to Seth. He can't bring himself to be as cruel to Seth as Seth was to Dean.

Roman sighs and opens Dean's closet, pulling out a pair of gym shorts and an old t-shirt for him to wear. He digs out a pair of boxers from the dresser and folds everything neatly in a stack. He knocks lightly on the bathroom door to let Dean know he's coming in and opens it, steam wafting out of the room. Dean always did take stupidly hot showers. He sets the pile of clothes on the counter.

"Feel any better?" Roman asks, raising his voice to be heard over the water.

"I feel like that character from The Wizard of Oz. The one that doesn't have a heart. The scarecrow? Fuck it, I don't remember." Dean grumbles, voice muffled by the spray.

"The Tin Man. The Scarecrow doesn't have a brain." Roman answers, laughing slightly.

The shower seems to have turned Dean back into Dean and less into Moxley. Roman never met Dean when he was Moxley, but he's seen the videos and promos and interviews that sometimes, he finds it hard to believe that this is the same man.

He leaves the bathroom door slightly cracked in case Dean needs him for something and heads into the kitchen to make something for Dean to eat. He's sure the other man hasn't eaten at all either.

He's almost done with the eggs and bacon by the time Dean comes into the kitchen, towel draped over his shoulders, rubbing the end of it against his chin. He's freshly shaven and his hair is still damp. He looks a lot better than the mess of a man Roman found on the floor in his bedroom.

"Hungry?" Roman asks, serving up the eggs and bacon.

Dean shrugs, but he sits down at the table, tossing the towel onto an empty chair. Roman sets his plate down in front of him and takes a seat at the table with his own plate. Roman starts eating, hoping that will encourage Dean to do the same instead of picking at his food.

"Do you want to talk?" Roman asks after a few moments of tense silence.

"No." Dean answers shortly.

"Look, I know he hurt you, but you can't let it break you like this." Roman tries to comfort him.

"You don't know a goddamned thing, so just leave it alone." Dean mutters. There's no heat in his voice. He just sounds utterly defeated.

Roman wants to break Seth's face a little bit for what he's done to Dean, but he knows that won't make anything better and it won't help Dean, so he tries to calm down.

Dean eventually eats most of the food on his plate and that's really more than Roman can ask for at this point. He cleans up their dishes and sits down again at the table.

Dean stares blankly down at the table, shut off once again.

Roman sighs. It's going to be a long battle, but he's determined to get Dean through this without any major damage other than what Seth's inflicted.

Dean's better than this. He just has to see it.

Roman worries that he never will.


End file.
